According to ABC News, Ryan Lanza, the older brother of 20-year-old Connecticut school massacre perpetrator Adam Lanza, has told police that his brother has Asperger Syndrome and another “personality disorder.” ABC News reports:

Neighbors described the younger man to ABC as “odd” and displaying characteristics associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

According to ABC News, Ryan Lanza, the older brother of 20-year-old Connecticut school massacre perpetrator Adam Lanza, has told police that his brother has Asperger Syndrome and another “personality disorder.” ABC News reports:

Neighbors described the younger man to ABC as “odd” and displaying characteristics associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

If this is the case and he lived with his mother, don;t you think she should have secured her firearms better? You know someone in your home is mentally deficient... they shouldn't even know the guns exist.

According to ABC News, Ryan Lanza, the older brother of 20-year-old Connecticut school massacre perpetrator Adam Lanza, has told police that his brother has Asperger Syndrome and another “personality disorder.” ABC News reports:

Neighbors described the younger man to ABC as “odd” and displaying characteristics associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

If this is the case and he lived with his mother, don;t you think she should have secured her firearms better? You know someone in your home is mentally deficient... they shouldn't even know the guns exist.

Easier said than done.

"As I lay rubber down the street I pray for traction I can keep, but if I spin and begin to slide, please dear God, protect my sweet ride."

bigdawgbeav;53692 Wrote:If this is the case and he lived with his mother, don;t you think she should have secured her firearms better? You know someone in your home is mentally deficient... they shouldn't even know the guns exist.

Easier said than done.

Then she should have gotten rid of them.

A gun rack in a pick-up is not for holding guns. Its a place for women to hold on to.

bigdawgbeav;53692 Wrote:You know someone in your home is mentally deficient... they shouldn't even know the guns exist.

It's easy to judge other people, and to think that there's easy solutions to problems, but each family and each person, are different. My son is mentally challenged. He may have the temperament of a six-year-old (although he's three times that old), but he's a sweet kid who would never hurt anyone. Shooting has the same benefits for him as other kids - it's fun challenging and teaches personal responsibility. He had an interest in learning the safety rules long before he decided he wanted to try shooting, and he can recite Jeff Cooper's rules better than most shooters. I watch him closely on the range, and he's never caused any issues. I keep the guns locked up not because I'm afraid of him doing something wrong, but because I don't want to be crucified by the wrong people finding out I have guns in the house, considering our circumstances.

Of course, my son has never shown any aggressive or destructive behavior. I don't know the situation of the shooter & his mother, but I'm not going to judge or second-guess her unless I see some real evidence of malfeasance.

Families of kids with disabilities try their best to live normal lives like anyone else. Including shooting.

bigdawgbeav;53692 Wrote:You know someone in your home is mentally deficient... they shouldn't even know the guns exist.

It's easy to judge other people, and to think that there's easy solutions to problems, but each family and each person, are different. My son is mentally challenged. He may have the temperament of a six-year-old (although he's three times that old), but he's a sweet kid who would never hurt anyone. Shooting has the same benefits for him as other kids - it's fun challenging and teaches personal responsibility. He had an interest in learning the safety rules long before he decided he wanted to try shooting, and he can recite Jeff Cooper's rules better than most shooters. I watch him closely on the range, and he's never caused any issues. I keep the guns locked up not because I'm afraid of him doing something wrong, but because I don't want to be crucified by the wrong people finding out I have guns in the house, considering our circumstances.

Of course, my son has never shown any aggressive or destructive behavior. I don't know the situation of the shooter & his mother, but I'm not going to judge or second-guess her unless I see some real evidence of malfeasance.

Families of kids with disabilities try their best to live normal lives like anyone else. Including shooting.

Well said.

For those that think that the firearm should have been better secured (or that firearms should be reported stolen or else the owner be fined - which is another argument I heard recently), the owners were murdered. The actor could have easily spent hours getting access to the firearms. Any safe or device is simply an obstruction to be overcome to anyone who is truly determined to get into the safe. Nothing is foolproof. Ever.

Now, about the psychological disorder. Asburgers and OCD don't readily add up to a homicidal maniac. A psychopath could, but not really these two things.

Also, I will through this out there because I have heard this argument far more than enough lately:

Just because someone has a mental health diagnoses does not mean they are a hazard to themself - or anyone else. If that were the case, anyone with ADD, or minor depression, or suicidal thoughts would be very dangerous. In this instance, most of the population would be prohibited from owning firearms.

Add to the mix the people that want to prohibit people who are under psychiatric or psychological care from possessing firearms. Ok, so again the person with mild ADD who is on medication to improve his/her quality of life would be prohibited (twice over, if one thinks anyone on psychoactive drugs should be prohibited). Or how about the 40 year old who suffered childhood trauma and is speaking to a psychologist to work out his personal demons. He is under psychological care. Should he be prohibited from possessing firearms?

The reality is that if someone has been involuntarily committed ever in their life (engagement excluded), they are prohibited. If someone has ever been adjudicated mentally defective (i.e. a proper authority rules that you are a hazard to yourself or others), you are prohibited.

Frankly, why should someone be prohibited from possessing a firearm because an organ - the brain in this case - is not functioning and the person is seeking the proper treatment, why should they not be allowed to possess a firearm? If they should, then lets ban everyone on dialysis or with liver failure.

This nation needs to stop looking for objects to blame or things to regulate. The reality is that someone made a decision to carry out evil and followed through. He - and he alone - is to blame. While a psychological disorder might have played a role, many more people with the same disorders never commit mass shootings at a school. No, he made a decision and followed through with it. The responsibility is his and his alone.

bigdawgbeav;53692 Wrote:If this is the case and he lived with his mother, don;t you think she should have secured her firearms better? You know someone in your home is mentally deficient... they shouldn't even know the guns exist.

Easier said than done.

Its very easy...Its called not owning guns or keeping them somewhere else...

Sorry, but if someone in your house is mentally ill or disturbed enough that you think they may be dangerous to themselves or others, you simply have no business keeping firearms in your home.

Im speaking from experience also...Don't want to go into details, but there have been points in my life where guns have had to be removed due to mentally ill family members who were potentially dangerous in one way or another having access to them.